I will admit that a certain amount of bad language was involved, but it has been a somewhat frustrating day! We are being invaded by warring factions of very large and smaller carpenter ants, and we can't figure out where they're getting in. I must have stepped on a couple of dozen today, and found a number that had been decapitated by, I presume, other warring ants. This seems to happen every Spring! There is currently a pile of dust, cat fur and dead ant parts to dispose of, as I have broken my downstairs dust pan....
Yesterday, I created a roof out of a strip of heavy cardboard and broken-apart dolls' house cedar shingles. There was a pile of pre-dyed shingles in my stash, so no paint was needed to age them. I will have to place small tufts of "moss" and "lichen" on them, and see if the folded cardboard brace under the shingled strip needs painting.
At any rate, I pin-hinged the door and then reinforced that with cardboard strips on the inside, as my pin hinging leaves something to be desired; I really don't like doing it, as I always seems to go crooked, and I was working with less than 1 cm (3/8"?) thick foam core. I also had to carve a door handle, as my small wooden beads, my go-to's for inexpensive door knobs, have been put away "safely" and can't be found at this point.
The doorstep is a chunk of pink builder's foam, carved to look worn and cracked, and then painted. The front of the shed is now glued into the frame, and the next step is to dress this little "stage set", once the drywall compound on the floor dries up. Then comes a vine, a bench, birdhouse, garden tools which all have to be dirtied to look used (I had some in my stash), gravel, grass, weeds, flowers and empty pots, etc., etc. And of course, a bird or animal....
The dressing of the "set" is what I enjoy doing most; the season for this scene has not been decided yet, which gives me lots of choice depending on what I have on hand in supplies. The original was Fall, but that means grape vines and making lots of grapes. Maybe it will be summer, and I can do morning glories and clematis vines. We'll see!
I absolutely love it, Marijke! I especially love the colour you used, aged to perfection as usual. This is my kind of project nowadays. I think my days of larger projects are over but that's the beauty of this hobby. There's such a broad spectrum of projects that a person can take on - everything from a large 3-story dollhouse to making individual little perfume bottles and everything in between! - Marilyn D.
ReplyDeleteYour vignette looks very appealing already! I love the worn blue color. That you are making everything from cardboard and scraps is admirable and shows how much can be achieved with scraps! I look forward to seeing what season it becomes... I would be tempted to make one for each season...! But that is because I am doing that with my Folly garden... currently working on the Rhododendron after completing the lilac (in four seasonal versions) a couple of years ago. "Someday" I will get to the Roses..... and lilies.... yes, minis are challenging and endlessly fun!
ReplyDeleteWow! Four seasons of lilac - you are a wonder! I've been intending for years now to do seasonal windows for my flower shop, but have yet to do so, although some plants have been made. I have instructions in a German mini mag for making a winter garden with bare branch berries of various kinds, and perhaps I'll do that someday, in vignette form.
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